Hi, Everybody,
Like the "Subject" says... How do I tell when my white onions are ready to eat? Thickness or colour of the leaves poking out? Or do I need to peek under the soil a bit? Or, what?
Thanks in advance...
They are edible as green onions or fresh bulbing onions anytime. No need to wait for the tops to fall over and dry to pick onions for immediate use. (That's what you will have to do to harvest them for storage, though.) Normally as onions mature, they bulb will begin to project above the soil.
I don't bury my onion sets. I put them just at the soil level. That way, they are viewable. Actually, I use slips not sets. I just bury the roots. Onions don't like to be too deep. When the tops die back, the onions have stopped growing. However, if I need onions earlier I'll pull one and use it. It may be smaller, but home grown onions are so much more flavorful than store bought.
Hi All,
if you leave your sets above the ground the birds will pull them out, at least they do in the U. K. allso when the set starts to grow it will push itself out of the ground as the roots grow, so if you do not bury it you will need to earth it up to keep it damp or the roots will dry out. all so white onions do not keep very well so it is best to use them first. at least that is what I have found. hope this is of some use to you.
Richard M. Watkin.
Onions are supposed to be grown with their bulbs mostly exposed. I just forget why, probably they are prone to rot otherwise, but it was specifically mentioned in a tv gardening program quite recently. But in any case, since the roots are attached to the very bottom of the bulb you can scratch around the sides and expose the bulb with impunity.
I usually buy brown onions from the supermarket, they are always cheaper. But recently I bought 7 or 8 white ones and within a few days every one had started to rot around the top. So it's a reminder to make sure you allow yours to dry out well before storing. I don't see why white should be any different to brown though.
You could initially pull every second onion before they reach maturity, making extra room for the others which you allow to grow more and will probably dry and store.
Onions are ready to eat as soon as they start growing. They are fully matured when the tops fall over and began to dry. White onions are available both as keepers and sweet onions . Most of the Supermarket whites are sweet onions and have very poor keeping qualities. Storage onions tend to be hot and are mostly use in cooking.
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